17. Cesspits Were a Dumping Ground For Human Waste
Before the invention of indoor plumbing, people used cesspits. Latrines were set over top of a deep pit, or on top of a water source like a stream. The human waste would flow down the stream, and be carried away. However, the toilets that were simply holes in the ground were very smelly, and downright terrible. (Imagine a porta potty that never got cleaned.) Castles tried to install larger ventilated bathrooms, much like the public toilets of today. If they couldn’t make it outside to the outhouse, people relieved themselves in a chamber pot and disposed of it later. The entire process was so disgusting, that royalty used privy servants to help them go. Waste collectors, or “Gong Farmers” would show up at night to clean out gutters and cesspits when they got too full, similar to today’s septic workers.